Clayface is a gory, schlocky blast that leans into its body horror, delivering scenes that will make you wince and watch between your fingers. However, the film struggles with a tonal identity crisis and a script that's often cheesy.
Written by Hossein Amini from a script by horror master Mike Flanagan, the movie reimagines the backstory of Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a Hollywood actor at the peak of his career. After a club encounter with mob boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik) leaves his face carved to shreds in graphic detail, Matt is cancelled, dropped by his team, and desperate. He then discovers the radical nanoreactor cell work of scientist Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), whom he convinces to let him be her human guinea pig, pushing the tests into uncharted territory despite her warning that he'll be in "Area 51" and they'll want to bottle him.
Body Horror and Performances
The film delivers on its promise of body horror, featuring melting, bubbling, and tearing skin, as well as gruesome transformations. While the final reveal relies too heavily on CGI and misses its full impact, standout scenes like Matt frantically trying to rip skin growing between his eyelids with nail scissors in an aeroplane toilet are nightmare-inducing.
Tom Rhys Harries shines as Matt, balancing tragic vulnerability with the darker impulses of his villain origin story. He's ably supported by Naomi Ackie's always-watchable Caitlyn, Max Minghella as her detective boyfriend John Borrelli, and Eddie Marsan as Matt's dodgy business manager.
Final Act and Verdict
The film's final act meanders towards action, building to a vengeful climax for Matt as he embraces his full villain mode, though the final scene feels tacked on and ambiguous. As the first DCU film set in Gotham, it offers more personality than recent comic book adaptations, but it could have gone deeper and bolder.
Clayface is out in cinemas on Friday, October 23, and is rated 18 with a runtime of 1 hour 48 minutes. It's a good strategy for DC Studios, using rising talent for a genre-based fun flick without spending hundreds of millions, even if it leaves a nagging feeling it could have been more significant.
